All the Arts, All the Time

MOCA's financial crisis

November 19, 2008 | 9:49
am

Los Angeles' prestigious but chronically underfunded Museum of Contemporary Art has fallen into crisis. Museum Director Jeremy Strick said MOCA is seeking large cash infusions from donors, and this week he did not rule out the possibility of merging with another institution or sharing its collection of almost 6,000 artworks.

Unlike the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is partly controlled by the county, MOCA receives minimal government funding. Its annual budget has grown to exceed $20 million, but it relies on donors to pay about 80% of its expenses. When the gifts have fallen short, as they have more often than not during Strick's nine-year tenure, the museum has gone into its savings.

In an interview this week, Strick would not disclose recent financial figures. But he acknowledged that the national economic crisis had further flattened the museum's cushion. MOCA's investment portfolio was worth $20.4 million in mid-2007, down from $36.2 million in mid-2000.